Although tech can sometimes be a little imposing, it can supply the tools and the solutions for endless business opportunities. Some of the UK’s greatest start-ups have technology to thank, and this is especially true with companies like Uber and Swifkey. The mobile app industry has grown to offer a solution for everything you can think of. Shopping, personal finances, insurance. All of these industries are making cash from you while you’re standing in the queue or stuck on the Tube. It’s also no secret that the mobile betting industry is the hottest new market for mobile developers.
So, you’ve had a fantastic idea. You want to build the app and create a service which will proves successful and will earn you some cash. What do you need to look out for?
Why do so many tech start-up companies fail?
Everybody loves a happy ending, and most tech start-up companies are success stories that we all aspire to. However, the grim truth is that most fail within the first six months of their launch. Fortunately, failure in the start-up world is no secret anymore, so we can embrace failure and learn from it. Learn from failure. Fail fast, learn, move on.
Poor idea
The first and foremost question that you should be asking yourself is whether your product or service is needed on the market. What’s its unique proposition that nobody has offered before and is it useful? According to Fortune, this is the top reason why some innovative companies simply don’t work. It’s straightforward to assume that your product has to be useful for the majority of people you’re targeting, but you’d be surprised to find out how many young, self-conscious entrepreneurs still develop mobile apps that nobody needs, as they believe they can simply convert them to love the apps. Do people really want your app? Can you see them going out of their way to find it? If not, and if they’re not going to do it in big numbers, it’s perhaps time for a re-think.
Insufficient tech expertise
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you know everything. You might have the idea, but you might not know exactly how to put it together. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t be afraid to go onto forums and ask questions. Find out whether there’s people who are prepared to come and help you out.
Tech can make people lazy, and that groundbreaking idea you had a few months ago could quickly turn into a pipe-dream if you lose momentum and don’t grow.. Keep an eye on the competition, ensure that you’re using great UI, you’re targeting the right audience and listen to your audience.
What can we learn from the success stories?
You will have heard of the brilliant UK-based start-ups sucj as Skyscanner, Deliveroo, Hedgehog Labs and Waracle, but can we all be like them? Similar to gambling, launching a successful start-up takes a lot of luck and favourable conditions, as well as a brilliant idea and execution. Even if it’s unlikely that we’ll be the next Steve Jobs of the mobile world, there’s a lot you can learn and steal from our all-time winners of the British tech scene.
Never lose focus
Be laser-focused on your audience, know their weaknesses and offer a good solution. The London-based start-up Yavli is a good example of a company that knows everything about their audience. Yavli offers carefully selected content to millennials by allowing publishers to reach out these ad blocker users by providing sponsored content.
Simplify
Customers have smaller snapshots of time, so reducing the workload required to perform certain tasks is a great way of appealing to them. Companies such as GoCardless have achieved this. This app was developed by the co-founders of Mondo (another successful London-based start-up that offers branchless bank services via a mobile app), and it’s now used by companies such as TripAdvisor and The Guardian. Now businesses can process cardless transactions.
Work hard
If you’ve created your app and it’s made a few downloads, down sit around on your laurels. Pay attention to even the smallest bugs, the tiniest suggestions and continually work to improve. Just standing still means that you’re going backwards, as your competitors will just blow you out of the water. If your customers see updates to your app, and responses to their questions, they’ll stick with you on the ride, and they’ll appreciate that you’re sticking with them too.
Nobody achieved success by being lazy. Hit it hard, drive it through and adapt as a result of that feedback. Admit when you got it wrong, don’t be afraid to start again. Come back better, stronger and at the right time.